In the semi-annual joint meeting with the town of Concord on Tuesday, Nov. 18, Springville Mayor Bill Krebs said that the popular belief that abolishing a village will save taxpayer money is not universally applicable. Referring to the New York Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act which went into effect March 21, Krebs said that although the act seems to imply that abolishing village government will put money in the taxpayers’ pockets, in reality, both the town and village have so many special districts that the cost of merging would likely be prohibitive.
The Act establishes uniform procedures for the consolidation or dissolution of towns, villages, fire districts, fire protection districts, fire alarm districts, special improvement districts or other improvement districts, library districts and other districts created by law. It does not include school districts, city districts or special purpose districts created by counties under county law.
“To become better knowledgeable about how this new law might affect Springville,” said Krebs, “The village is in the process of listing the services and the cost of the services provided to the residents of Springville.”
He went on to explain that the village has an $8 million budget which includes a $2.5 million general fund supported by taxes and revenue sharing and fees and about $5.5 million in services supported by fees alone. The town’s budget, including all its special districts is about $3.5 million. “If the village of Springville were to be abolished,” said Krebs, “the town budget would have to triple in order to continue the level of service and most of this increase would be adding special districts to the town such as sewer, water, fire service, etc.” Krebs specifically mentioned the village electrical franchise which apparently is non-transferable.
Town Supervisor Gary Eppolito, referring to special services and districts, said that there would first have to be a consolidation study to ascertain how much money would be saved, but because of the town’s special use districts such as the Craneridge or Kissing Bridge water districts, and services provided by the village but not the town, such as trash pickup and the plowing of side walks, savings are likely to be negligible.
Krebs noted that there are alternatives to consolidation or dissolution in order to save money. Already in place are inter-municipal contracts with the town for joint services which save money.
In other matters:
• Code Enforcement Officer Mike Kaleta provided a map showing the division of village and town property where the new 219 Expressway extension is being constructed, noting that the boundary goes over the Expressway, including what he referred to as a frontage piece on Zoar Valley Road.
“We have found that there are parcels of property on the east side of the 219 that are town property and a little lot on the west side that is village property,” said Krebs. The board members discussed the various complications of the issue including water, sewer and electrical lines underneath the area and also access for the various village and town properties owners whose land abut the extension.
“Any type of annexation will require a lot of study,” said Krebs. “Since the expressway has been built, the existing boundaries don’t make sense.”
It was agreed that there is no rush to make a decision on the boundary issue and that in any case, according to Tim Horner, the village administrator, there would have to be a joint town and village board meeting followed by a public hearing.
• With regard to the master plan, it was agreed that this needs to be looked at by both the village and town boards since it has not been reviewed or updated since 1998.
• Krebs advised the town of a high speed communication service that was proposed by Police Chief John Fox that can deliver pre-recorded messages directly to homes and businesses in the event of an emergency. The program, called CodeRED, will apparently cost about $1 per resident per year. Eppolito said that the town will be looking at its own emergency plan and will include the CodeRED program in its deliberations. Trustee Jean Moncreiff noted that such a plan would also save the Control Center time and money since the lines are often tied up during emergencies, such as during a power outage.
• The next joint meeting of the town and village will likely be held in the spring of 2010.
The next village of Springville Board of Trustees’ meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, at the Franklin Street Municipal Building.
The next town of Concord Board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall on Franklin Street on Thursday, Dec. 10.